And no-one suffered more than striker Papiss Cisse who had two goals disallowed and missed a hat-trick of chances that would have secured a comfortable lead ahead of next Thursday's second leg.

All is not lost for the Geordies. Five years ago, Everton were held at home by Metalist but won in Ukraine.

If Newcastle are to match that feat they could do with Cisse sharpening his shooting boots and a linesman who understands the offside rule.

Metalist defender Fininho was clearly playing Moussa Sissoko onside in the 24th minute when the French midfielder raced through before crossing for Cisse to stab home at the far post.

The 30,157 crowd erupted when the goal was wrongly ruled out and they roared their disapproval again in the 71st minute.

A flag again cut short Toon celebrations when the striker prodded in home debutant Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa's centre.

That second decision was marginal but Cisse only had himself to blame for not getting his name on the scoresheet.

The Senegal international wasted a golden opportunity in the 31st minute when shooting straight at keeper Oleksandr Goryainov after being sent clear by Yohan Cabaye.

He had two half-chances either side of the interval but was once again thwarted by the Metalist keeper moments before that second disallowed effort.

Davide Santon rolled the ball into his path, but from 12 yards he was unable to beat Goryainov.

Then deep into injury-time, the Italian set him up again but the keeper kept out his diving header from point-blank range.

Newcastle may have felt hard done by but Metalist proved tough opponents and it was only in the last 20 minutes that the hosts took advantage of the visitors' fatigue to take control.

Pardew said: "They played well for long periods but my team could not have done much better and I think we should have won the game.

"Both goals should have counted. The replays prove that. We have come off the pitch disappointed with those decisions."

The technically-gifted Metalist side, who included nine South Americans in their starting line-up, had threatened whenever they crossed the halfway line with Toon keeper Tim Krul having to be at his best on 29 minutes to thwart Cristaldo.

This was a step up in class for Newcastle after the group stages and the tie between two evenly-matched teams looks like going down to the wire in Ukraine next week.

With Edmar pulling the strings in midfield, Metalist dominated possession in the opening quarter of an hour and looked full of menace for more than 60 minutes.

In the 20th minute, Cleiton Xavier and Sosa both ghosted in behind the home defence but got in each other's way and Steven Taylor was able to clear the danger.

Then came that Krul save with the Dutchman flinging himself to his left to deny Xavier with a flying save after the Brazilian met Cristaldo's left-wing cross with a firm header.

"A draw was a fair result," said Metalist coach Myron Markevich. "Now everything will be decided in Kharkiv."